Category Archives: Interviews

The folks who make up The Vampire Diaries’ fan community are a rabid bunch: They’re even nominated for their own People’s Choice Award. “Our fans are the most extraordinary group,” says exec producer Julie Plec, “and they are very vocal.” There should be plenty of chatter now that Elena (Nina Dobrev) has officially hooked up with bad boy Damon (Ian Somerhalder), making Team Delena rapturous. And those Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Elena devotees? Not so much. “I will probably have to hide for a while!” jokes Plec.

That’s advice Damon might want to take once his brother Stefan finds out about the tryst. (“He’ll be in for a shock,” says Plec.) But first, we’ll let Somerhalder revel in his character’s juicy new story line.

TV Guide Magazine: How did it feel to finally have “hot vampire sex,” as Nina called it, with Elena in the November 29 episode?

Somerhalder: The fans — and I — have been begging for that for a long time. It’s payoff for them, but there are a lot of people out there, particularly dudes, who think Elena would be much better off if she were rid of both [Salvatore brothers].

Looking handsome as ever, the 33-year-old actor donned an Armani Exchange cardigan for the Matthew Lyn shot front page while talking about everything from acting to rumors that he wants the lead role in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” film adaptation.

On the challenges of being an actor:
“Much of life is like a television show. You have ups and downs. You never know where it’s going to go. And yes, it’s iffy as an actor, because you’re at the mercy of the writers’ imaginations. You’re ultimately subjected to exactly what they want and you have to deal with it.”

On taking his young audience seriously:
“If you empower a 15-year-old kid, or a 17-year-old kid who turns 18 in October, who can vote in November – if you empower that young person to understand what’s going on in the world around them, how certain politics and environmental implications are going to not serve them very well later on in life – are going to affect the way that they grow up and their children grow up – you affect that young person. They become empowered, and an empowered young person is the coolest thing in the world. And untimely, that’s where change comes in.”

On rumors that he’s pursuing the lead in “Fifty Shades of Grey:”
“I think it could be a very interesting job.”

Ian Somerhalder visited the E! News studio (see more of him on tonight’s E! News at 7 pm!) and Kristin Dos Santos had a few minutes with him to talk The Vampire Diaries season finale. Read the entire interview over at E!Online.

1. Stefan and Damon Strike a Deal! And me no likely. Ian reveals: “The brothers both agree, ‘If she goes for you, I’ll leave town. And if she goes for me, you leave town. So this doesn’t get weird.’ And they both agree on it. And that’s what’s so cool is that by virtue of this decision the boys have ultimately become so insanely close. And I love that I think it’s really cool that that’s what happens.” Right. Fine. But keep your hiney and your brother’s hiney firmly planted in Mystic Falls, mmm kay? Thanks.

2. The Love Triangle Is “Ending.” Ian tells us: “Elena makes a decision. Well, after Damon dies she only has one decision.” Then after a long, excruciating pause in which I beat his chest to make him stop, he let out a hearty laugh and said, “Who knows? Maybe. We’ll see!”

E!Online chatted with Ian Somerhalder about how he could come up with a plan to make his bloodsucking Vampire Diaries character Damon earth-friendly. Read the entire interview here.

Somerhalder wants to trade in Damon’s 1967 Camaro for a luxury hybrid—a $100,000 Fisker Karma to be exact.

“The Camaro is a cool car, but you stand behind the exhaust too long and you get sick,” Somerhalder tells me exclusively. “Damon has a lot of means to get the car. It looks like a Camaro, but it’s bigger and more beautiful and it’s completely green. It’s electric for the first 50 miles! You’ll have to fill your tank like two times a year!”

Damon’s reasons to go green are quite obvious, Somerhalder insists. “You have this guy who’s lived almost two centuries,” he said. “And he realizes, I’m stuck here for the next millennium. I’ve watched the degradation of our earth and our planet, watched the population grow. I have to be around for the next thousand years, I might as well take care of the place. Plus, this car is as sexy as hell.”

TVLine sat down with Ian Somerhalder to chat about Damon and Alaric’s bromance, Elena’s happiness and much, much more. Read the entire interview over at TVLine.

TVLINE | Elena is still hell-bent on going after Stefan. Where does that leave Damon?
Elena’s a very strong-willed young individual. Elena’s going to do whatever Elena wants to do. She’s very persuasive, and I mean that in the most positive of senses. He’s going to try and help her in any way he can. He truly wants to be able to help her. He wants her to be happy. There’s nothing Damon won’t do for Elena’s happiness.

32 year old The Vampire Diaries actor Ian Somerhalder has claimed that he expects the latest season of the hit CW vampire show to kick some ass. Ian also admitted that the whole of the cast get along so well and there is very rarely any tension on set.

Somerhalder explained, “The whole Twilight thing is about to be over. And teenage girls can’t watch True Blood with their parents – that would just get weird. So we’re getting ready to kick some major ass this season.” He added, “[It’s] a total frickin’ lovefest.”

Ian Somerhalder has previously teased fans about what they can expect to see happen between his character Damon and Elena, played by Nina Dobrev. He has also suggested what could happen between Damon and Stefan, played by Paul Wesley. The Vampire Diaries season three premieres on CW on September 15.

His piercing blue eyes are one of the first things you notice about Ian Somerhalder, who was one of the first characters to be killed off of “Lost.” Now he is back from the dead — actually, he is undead — with his role as bad-boy vampire Damon Salvatore, who steams up the action on The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries.” ET chats with the Louisiana-born actor to get his take on sinking his teeth into his role.

ET: Are you a fan of the whole vampire craze?

Ian Somerhalder: I am from New Orleans, so I grew up with Anne Rice. From a very young age, I knew a lot about vampires and always wanted to play one.

ET: How did you prepare for playing a vampire?

Ian Somerhalder: I don’t like blood. Blood freaks me out a little bit. So when you think about being hungry, for example, think of a time when you are stuck on a plane, or wherever you were that you didn’t have food, or you see people starving in the world, think about how intense that is. Imagine being a vampire and having 160 years of life experience — knowledge of humanity, of life and death, of everything — then on top of that your senses are heightened by 1000 percent. All of the things you hear, you have to learn to block out, and your sense of needing to eat is constant and 1000 times more than we have. It is a very intense proposition, so trying to inhabit someone who has that much knowledge of the world … it is a feat. I hope I am doing it right.

Will Ian Somerhalder ever win an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries? Whose life would this character choose to save, if only given one option: Elena’s or Stefan’s? How has Damon changed since we first met him?

In an exclusive interview with TV Fanatic, the actor who makes women swoon and men stand up to cheer answered these questions and many more. He even touched on efforts to clean up the oil spill in his native Louisiana. Warning to fans: you’re about to like Somerhalder even more than you did before…

We didn’t think it would be possible to surpass season one, but season two is proving us wrong.
I hope so. It’s actually going to get better. We are committed and we understand that we have to make this a better season of television than last year. Katherine’s back, and there are a couple of other unknown forces that are lurking about. I think this season’s dynamic is that it’s not quite as much fun for Damon to be honest with you [laughs]. I don’t get to wreak havoc and destroy shit, but it’s a little more layered and dynamic. I think the cool thing is that Stefan and Damon are going to have to bind together and set their differences aside and fight for what they love, which is the town and Elena.

What has changed for Damon?
I think that what’s sort of thrown Damon for a loop is what he said at the end of the finale, “I came to this town wanting to destroy it and everything in it, and now I find myself wanted to protect it.” How the hell does that happen? I think that it happens because when you forge relationships with people you raise stakes, you have something to lose. For someone who’s never had anything to lose, it’s throwing him a bit. It’s fun to play, but I think there are a lot of things that are about to pop up that are going to make for some action.

Once known as Lost’s Boone Carlyle, actor Ian Somerhalder is now more easily recognized as Damon Salvatore, a point in the love triangle that anchors the CW’s hit series, The Vampire Diaries. Despite the seemingly endless supply of vampire-themed entertainment in the world, the show has sustained impressive attention from both critics and fans, with its recent second season premiere bringing in over 3.3 million viewers. We spoke to Somerhalder from the set in Georgia about the BP oil spill, Twitter, his most unusual fan encounter, and why Willem Dafoe is his favorite vampire.